Top 10 Pubs for Walks - The Good Pub Guide

We asked the experts at The Good Pub Guide 2015 to come up with their 10 best pubs for walks across the UK. After all, what could be a better recipe for a relaxing weekend than a nice long walk and stopping off in a cosy British pub?

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Right at the heart of the Lake District, close to Langdale and the central lakes, and with walks of every gradient right from the front door. Old fashioned and friendly atmosphere, traditional little back bar with six real ales and popular food, small beamed front bar with views across to Elterwater, comfortable lounge and bustling dining room. Must book bedrooms months in advance.

Good for walkers in Dartmoor National Park and at its most informal at lunchtime. Two neatly kept, partly panelled rooms with candles and fresh flowers and warming log fires, a light and spacious dining room, a fine range of drinks and first class food; lovely bedrooms.

Partly 13th-c pub in a picturesque village close to the River Wye and much loved by walkers and their dogs - Alfie the pub lurcher might be there to greet you. Warmly welcoming landlady, a chatty and relaxed atmosphere and six real ales on handpump in low-ceilinged, cosily traditional bar with creaky floors, window shutters, candles in bottles on the tables, miners’ lamps on uneven walls, and comfortable furnishings. Interesting food and seats in walled garden.

An exceptional inn surrounded by good walking country and close to the Offa’s Dyke Path. There’s an hospitable small bar with an interesting choice of drinks, courteous staff and 200 jugs hanging from the ceiling and this being one of Britain’s best dining pubs, wonderful food using home-grown produce. Bedrooms are comfortable.

As this bustling pub is surrounded by fantastic walks (and excellent bird watching, too), it’s useful that food is served all day. Three traditional rooms have coal fires, straightforward furnishings and plenty of prints and bric-a-brac. Enjoyable food (Thursday is curry night) and drink.

Surrounded by bracing coastal walks, this harbourside stone inn has been run by the same family since 1812. The old-fashioned bar has some marvellous maritime memorabilia – even the floor is made up of scrubbed ship’s decking – and it’s well worth taking time to wander around. Popular food and drinks and well thought of bedrooms. You can book trips to the Farne Islands in the harbour.

Charming inn in idyllic spot by a secluded sloping village green and well positioned for walks to the coast and along the clifftops of the Seven Sisters and up to Belle Tout Lighthouse and Beachy Head. Two simple, character bars with beams, an open woodburner in a brick inglenook, rustic tables and chairs, local ales and a smarter dining room with much liked food (they also offer breakfasts to non-residents until 10am).

Civilised little place surrounded by the steep fells above Borrowdale with the Cumbrian Way and Coast to Coast path nearby. Walking cartoons and attractive Lakeland mountain photographs on the walls in the neat bar, a log fire in a big stone fireplace, straightforward furnishings, a separate residents’ lounge, four real ales and all-day food, and comfortable bedrooms.

Wonderfully remote pub reached by driving through miles of spectacularly wild, unpopulated scenery and over the famous Pass of the Cattle (Bealach na Bà); fantastic surrounding walks. No nonsense, welcoming bar with a woodburning stove, exposed stone walls, upholstered pine furniture and delicious seafood. The tables in the shoreside garden look across the water to the Cuillin Hills on Skye. You must book the bedrooms up months in advance.

Atmospheric and cheerfully unchanged mountaineers’ haunt in the wilds of Snowdonia and run by the same family since 1947. Snug rooms with fascinating mountaineering memorabilia, simple furnishings, real ales, good value lunchtime food and hearty 7.30 sharp evening meals. They have their own chapel.

Featured Book

The Good Pub Guide 2015. The 33rd edition of this much loved guide is as invaluable as ever. Organized county by county, its comprehensive yearly updates and countless reader recommendations ensure that only the very best pubs make the grade.